Thermostat.



F. W. POWERS. 4

THERMOSTAT.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 5, 1910,

1,064,l 68. Patented June 1o, 1913.

N narran smarts terminar ernten.

FRED W..PO\VERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE POWERS REGULATOR COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

THERMOSTAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 10, 1913.

Application filed July 5, 1910. Serial No. 570,359.

To all whom t may ,concern Be it known that I, FRED W. Pownns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county oil Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermostats, of which the following' is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in thermostats, and relates more particularly to improvements whereby the regulating thermstat may be temporarily and instantly thrown out of regulating control or returned to regulating control of the system it governs, ,without in any wise 'modifying or changingl its 4normal adjustment.

In the heat-ing oi rooms and apartments in which theheat-supplying system is automatically controlled by thermostats, itis often highly desirable to eliminate the controlling action ot' the thermostat. For example, in the case of bedrooms it is ordinarily preferred that the bedroom should be entirely without heat during the sleeping hours, yet, particularly in the case of hotels, these rooms are occupied more or less during the day and must then be heated, and usually are heated, under automatic thermostatic control.

In the patent to WV. S. Johnson No, 7 33,210 of July 7, 1903, there is set 'lorth a thermostat provided with means whereby the indicator may be so set as to permanently exclude during the retention of such adjustment heating medium from the heating appliance or apparatus controlled by the thermostat. But in the thermostat shown in said patent the adjustment ol the instrument to permanently exclude the heat, re-

'sults also in destroying its normal adjustment. In other words, when it is desired to restore the thermostat to its normal functional control ot' the heating system, the same care must be exercised in restoring` the indicator` to the desired temperature point as would be required when originally installingthe-instrument. Obviously it is not in all eases, or even usually, feasible to leave the turning on oit' the heat to an attendant, and frequently the occupant is either unskilled or careless, and in attempting to restore the thermostat to its normal adjustment will set it to a wrong position.

The present invention has for its general object to obviate the difficulties of the char acter above mentioned.

More specifically stated, the salient objects otf the invent-lon are to provide a thermostat having means whereby its functional control ma he instantly eliminated or restored wit iout destroying its set adjustment; to provide a thermostat so organized that the matt-er of putting it out of commission is accomplished without in any wise permanently readjusting those parts which have to do with the autonatic regulation; to provide in a thermostat olI the character described means whereby the act of putting the thermostat out of or into commission is accomplished by the movement ol an indi-` cator which positively discloses the condition ot the thermostat; to provide a thermostat oil the character described which may be brought into or placed out ol commission by simply moving an oil' and on lever or button; and in general, to provide an improved thermostat ol the character referred to.4

The invention is shown as embodied in, and made a part et', a regulating thermostat which in other respects is well known, has been upon the market for some time, and the ininutia of which need not `therefore be described. The instrument shown is selected simply as one type oi thermostat in which the invention may be advantageously embodied.

The invention will be readily understood from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying lrawings, in which Ilig'ure l is a plan view, with parts of the casing broken out, of a thermostat equipped with my invention; Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section of the same instrument; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows; this view being, however, shown on a larger scale. A

Referring to the drawings, the thermostat shown' is of that type in which :uheat-expandible member operates a system ol valves which control the flow of pneumatic pressure to motors which serve to turn on and oli' the healing apjiliances; the expansion ol' the expandihle member under heat serving to open the valves and let air under pressure through the thermostat, thereby operating the motors tb turn oll the heat, while the contraction ofthe expandible member permits the valves to close and brings about the turning on of the heat. It will be seen that if means be provided for forcing open the valve or valves which control the admission of pneumatic pressure to the mot-ors, and holding these valves openregardless of variations in temperature, then't-he heat will be kept turned off, and this, in short, is what the present invention accomplishes.

Referring again to the drawing, 1 designates as a whole an expandible disk-shaped chamber containing a suitable fluid which expandsv under heat and contracts under cold; the lower side thereof being connected at its center and resting against an adjusting lever Q. At the opposite side' of the disk is arranged a val-ve body?) movably supported by a diaphragm 4t and when in functional position adapted to'be acted upon by the upper side of the expansible disk 1. Arranged axially within the valve body 3 is a valve it, the point of which controls a valve port 5 co'uuuunicating with a vent passage (i. The top side of valve l contacts the Apoint of a second valve which controls a port S affording communication between a passage or chamber 9 and. a second passage or chamber 10. The space 9 communicates with a source of substantially constant pneumatic pressure. while the space 10 communicates with a 1iassage 10 leading to the motors, actuated by pneumatic pressure, and con trolling the radiators or other heating devices in a well-understood manner. The valve member 7 is held yieldably in bearing with valve member 4- by a coiled expansion spring .1l acting on its upper end. A second coiled expansion spring l2 interposed between the head of the valve'l and a subjacent part of the valve body 3, tends to lift the valve from its seat, but spring li is the stronger, from which it follows that as the disk expands the valve is first forced to its seat to disconnect the motors from the vent passage G and thereafter the disk lifs` and forces open valve Y to connect the motors with the pres sure source. Vice versa, as the disk eontracts, valve 7 first closes and' thereafter valve opens during the further contraction of' the disk. This final opening permits venting-*of the motor or motors which are then actuated by their springs to turn on the heat.

Supporting lever it 4is of two-part construe-tion, comprising a rigid. portion 20 and a plate spring extension 2, the end of which latter rests upon a fixed bridge-like support or part of the frame designate(A 2". The opposite end of the lever is apertured and fils over an adjusting screw 13 whereby it may be adjusted toward. or away from the base side of the thermostat by rotating the screw in its threaded socket 14. A fulcrum screw 14 is threaded through the bridge frame l and engages lever 2 as shown. Adjusting screw 13 carries a disk 15 and pointer v16, which latter is exposed through a slot 15?', and as the screw is rotated in one or the other direction is carried past a scale 1G formed along one margin of the slot.

Setting the thermostat is accomplished by screw 13, rotation in one direction carrying the engaged end of the lever away from the base side of the thermostat, and by reason of the engagement of the llever with the fulcrum screw Vlet flexing the spring extension thereof toward the base side of the thermostat and carrying the expansible disk away from the valve mechanism. The reverse operation of the screw 13 moves the expansible disk toward the valve mechanism. Accordingly these valves will be operated at a higher or lower range of temperatures, depending upon the adjustment thus made.

The mechanism thus far described is that heretofore known in thermostats of this type.

Describii'ig, now, the means whereby the thermostat may be thrown out ofcommis sion, so to speak, a flat strap-like lever 17 is interposed between the side of the expansihle disk and t-he valve body 3 actuated thereby; one end of Vthis lever being suspended by means of `a screw l'from an overhanging immovable part 19 of the frame, while the opposite end of the lever is connected with a suspension cam 20. The member 2O is at its upper endapertured to fit upon an eccen- 'tric wrist 21, which is formed upon a rock shaft` 22 journaled in a suitable barrel 23 forming a part of the immovable bridge frame which overlies the expansible disk. Upon the outer end of the rock-shaft 22 is immovably lixed an indicator thumb piece 24, bearing upon one side the legend Heat off, and upon the other side the legend Heat on. A stop stud 25 mountedV on the rockshaft Q2, and working through a segmental slot 26 in the barrel, limits the movement of the rock-shaft so that it can be rotated only a part of a revolution; this partial rotation causing the eccentric to raise or lower the end of the lever or cut-out 17, as the case may be. The throw of the eccentric is sutlicient so `that when the cut-out lever is Amoved to one extreme, valve 7 is fully lifted and the pneumatic pressure admitted, but on the other hand, when the cut-out lever is lowered by the eccentric, it becomes idle and funcn tionless. In order that it may move Vidly with the expansion and contraction of the disk, both its ends loosely embrace thesuspending screws 18 and 2l. The head of the screw Q1 is `thrown far enough by the eccentric when turned to one limit to permit this end of the cut-out lever to move idly with the disk and therefore not interfere with the free movement of the valve body 3 and ass0- elated parts.

llhe operation of the mechanism. has been substantially described 1n connection with the description of the mechanics thereof. W'hcnever the thermostat is to be thrown out of commission, the operator simply throws the thumb` lever 24 over in such direction as to bring;r about the lifting ot the end of the cut-out lever, and so permanently opens the valves controlling the pneumatic by-pass. In this position the lever indicates heat off. Vice versa, when the thermostat is to be restored to its normal function of autr matically controlling the heating system, the thumb lever is flopped back and the valves thereby lowered into bearing With, or within range ont opta-ation ol the expansible disk. lt Will be noted that putting` the thermostat out of commission and restoringf it in no Wise disturbsl or nnnliles the adjustment of the indicator which detern'iines the range of temperature :it which the thermostat operates auton'iatically to turn otl or turn on the heat. ln short, the setting; ol the, thermostat for automatic operation is accomplished in precisely the same manner as though my present im provement were not embodied inthe thermostat.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I accomplish the several objects o'l the invention stated, and this in an extremely simple and ett'ective manner. Nevertheless the invention may be embodied in other forms, and would almost necessarily take dilierent forms when applied to dill'erent types of thermostats. .ftecordingly the claims are to be construed broadly, except in so far as they are made specilic.

I claim as my invention:

l. .ln a thermostat, the combination o'l an expansiblc element operable by heat, a `ralvc under the control o'l said elementand itself controlling' the iluid pressure passage extending through the thermostat, regulating appliances whereby said thermostat may be variably set for action upon the valve at selected temperatures, a scale and coperating indicator associated with said regulating appliances, and cut-out mechanism arranged to act upon said valve independently ot the expansible element, whereby the thermostat may be cut out oi conn'nission, or

restored to commission, by the actuation ot said cut-out mechanism, without operating or disturbing the adjustment of said regulating appliances.

2. 1n a thermostat, the combination of an expansihle clement operable by heat, a valve under the control ol said element and itself controlling` the lluid pressure passage eX tending through the thernlostat, regulating apj'iliances whereby said thermostat may be variably set for action upon the valve at selected temperatures, a scale and coperatine indicator associated with said regulating appliances, and eut-out mechanism arranged to act upon said valve independently ot the expansible element, whereby the thermostat may be cut out olf commission,

or restored to eonnnission, by the actuation ot said cut-out mechanism, without operatingor disturbing the :nljustment of said regulating' appliances, said cut-out mechanism comprising a lever interposed between the expamling element and the valve, manually operable mechanism for actuating said lever, and an indicator and associated legend -for determining the condition of Said cutout mechanism.

23. l'n a, thermostat, the combination with the main frame thereof, of an expanding disk mounted in said main l'rame, a valve mounted in the frame and arranged to control a [luid pressure passage, operative con nections between said valve and one side of the expanding' disk, an adjusting lever movably supporting the opposite side ot said disk, adjusting' mechanism and associated indicatinga mechanism lor adjusting one end ol' said :uljustinpT lever, a cut-out lever arranged to extend between said valve and the proximate side o'l' the expanding disk, means pivotally suj'iporting one end oilE said cutout lever, an `eccentric mechanism connecting' the opposite end ot said lever with a rock shaft, and a thumb lever mounted upon said rock shaft.

FR-lfll) lV. lOlVllRS. lVilnesses l". A. Ginmcsrin, lV. J. ltainnn. 

